Q and A with Dr. Wright, as featured in On Magazine

As a host beaty editor for On Magazine, Dr. Fiona Wright has published a series of Q & A articles in response to emailed questions, sometimes with collaborations by other medical collegues in her network. She would now like to share the information with everyone! This article was originally published in the 2006 Health Issue.

Q: Is there really “Botox in a Bottle?” A friend recommended StriVectin. I would like to know what to expect before I buy it.

-Kim D., Addison

A: StriVectin-SD (Klein-Becher) is an over the counter cream originally formulated to treat stretch marks. Its marketing teases consumers with the question “Better than Botox?” Pal-KTTKS is a pentapeptide used in StriVectin and Oil of Olay’s new Regenerist product. This pentapeptide has created excitement as several studies have found that this pro-collagen fragment can promote collagen formation. This pentapeptide can be quite effective at decreasing wrinkle depth and density, in the correct concentrations; the original studies done used concentrations between 2 and 8 percent. The concentrations used in StriVectin are not disclosed in the packaging.

Many women want to know what do about StriVectin. The feedback that I receive from my patients is that it is a great moisturizer. I have not had anyone tell me, “Wow, I don’t need to get Botox anymore, because my lines are gone.” Lines between the eyebrows (frown lines) and lines jutting from the corner of the eyes (crow’s feet) are believed to develop because of small muscle contractions. Smiling, frowning, squinting and other habitual facial expressions cause these wrinkles to become more prominent. Cosmeceutical moisturizers are marketed with the intent of minimizing wrinkles on the face, and therefore everyone wants that cream in a tube to make their wrinkles go away. “Botox in a Bottle?,” so far, there has never been anything that comes close to doing so.